Al-Nusra Front

The Jabhat al-Nusra (Al-Nusra Front) is an al-Qaeda branch that operates in Syria during the Syrian Civil War. Although they were a terrorist group and were at times allied with the harsh Islamic State (at war with much of the opposition), they were considered allies by the moderate Free Syrian Army and other forces. They were one of the terror groups bombed by the United States-led coalition from September 2014.

History
The Al-Nusra Front was founded on 23 January 2012 by Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani, and it gained 6,000 members. It was a part of al-Qaeda's Iraqi network, and was commaned by al-Qaedans; however, they were not as extreme as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in their brutality. During the Syrian Civil War, they were the most aggressive and successful rebel group fighting the Syrian Arab Republic and they allied with many moderate Syrian opposition groups such as the Free Syrian Army. They were at times enemies of ISIS due to ISIS being excommunicated from al-Qaeda, but in 2014 they allied with them. In September 2014, they were bombed by the United States, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, France, the United Kingdom, and other nations due to their status as a terrorist group. Their sniper Abu Yousef al-Turki was one of the men killed in the bombings.